Testimonials: Box of Birds
Peter Tullin
Co-Founder
Remix Summits
“I had the pleasure of becoming familiar with the work of Box of Birds / Stalker Theatre in my role as one of the lead facilitators in the recent Creative Australia Createch Initiative.
I was impressed with the high professional caliber of creative work that Box of Birds has forged over the last decade.
Their work has been ahead of its time in the Australian market. Their interactive live performance research and the shows they have delivered has brokered new ground in live performance immersive experiences.
Box of Birds has been challenged by the lack of financial resources available to them to exploit their market potential. Any funding that this company can attract will be put in the service of innovative research, development and delivery of outstanding theatre works in Australia and globally.
Now is the time to support this company to help them realise their full potential.”
Kim Walker,
Chief Executive Officer
NAISDA
I am writing to enthusiastically support Box of Birds / Stalker Theatre.
NAISDA is proud to be the training institute that has nurtured some of the most esteemed First Nation dancers both on and off stages for the past 43 years. It is partnerships such as the one we have with Stalker that creates a NAISDA dancer that upon graduation is a multi-disciplined artist that can move between dance, drama, and physical theatre and increasingly, digital technology.
Over the last several years, I have become aware of the artistic and technical innovation that is being developed by the Box of Birds / Stalker team. I have seen their work and was extremely proud of the work of NAISDA graduates in the company.
After seeing their production of Layer in Sydney, I invited some of the Box of Birds team to teach a one-week residency at NAISDA for our Diploma Students in 2024.
This one-week residency produced some outstanding results for our students and drew their attention to the possibilities in embracing new approaches to dance with immersive technologies.
I am keen to expand our collaboration with Box of Birds in 2025 and 2026 and look forward to the company working with our future graduating students.
As an artist I have known David’s work for many years and have full confidence in his philosophy and adherence regarding cultural protocols.
I fully support Box of Birds application to Create NSW and urge you to give this innovative company the assistance they deserve.
Adrian Burnett
Head of Programming CARRIAGEWORKS
As one of Australia's most renowned contemporary multi-arts organisations, Carriageworks supports artists in presenting significant new works across multiple art forms. We're excited to continue our relationship with Stalker Theatre through their Box of Birds co-brand. In my previous role as Director of New Annual Festival in Newcastle, I developed a productive working relationship with the company.
Stalker has been an innovator in physical theatre practice in Sydney for over 30 years. Through its co- brand Box of Birds, it has extended that innovation by integrating physical practice with digital technology. Its ability to work across multiple theatrical platforms—combining 360-degree projections, augmented reality, and motion capture with physical performance—creates experiences that blend story, poetics, and stunning moving graphics.
Works of this complexity require sufficient time and resources to develop. With adequate support Box of Birds latest research will appeal to a broad and inclusive audience.
Rachael Azzopardi & Lee Cumberlidge
Co-Founders and Creative Directors
Illuminate Festival, Adelaide
“We have been aware of Box of Birds / Stalkers work for over the last decade and were particularly impressed with their season of Mountain at the Adelaide Fringe which drew in over 20,000 audience members. The Stalker / Box of Birds blending of live performance coupled with large scale audience participation with their dynamic use of digital technology is particularly captivating.
As we plan our future curated programs, we see increasing scope for immersive art experiences to be simultaneously participatory and performative in the way that Box of Birds are developing their practice. Therefore, the Creative Futures fund is both timely and appropriate for a company of this calibre. Funding will help them to bring their work to a wider audience reach, both nationally and globally.
Illuminate Adelaide supports Box of Birds as they apply for financial support to both build their capacity and to realise their creative vision, and we look forward to the opportunity to further discussions with the company should they be successful in their application.
We encourage you to support this small but incredibly dynamic company of outstanding artists that has produced Australian works of scale that have toured around the world.
The time is right for this company to grow and expand its team and its artistic and technical innovation.”
Travis Cardona
Head of First Nations
National Institute of Dramatic Art
“I was impressed by the calibre of the work that I saw and the potential of Small Blue Thing to be truly ground-breaking in immersive storytelling.
From its ability to tell stories from an intercultural perspective, and in the way that this immersive work will attract new types of audiences to participate in cultural experiences.
Small Blue Thing stands out for its innovative approach to storytelling, blending traditional performance techniques with cutting-edge technology. By incorporating immersive visuals of space and Earth, it aims to transport audiences into a heightened state of awareness, fostering empathy and understanding.
I will support this project by helping ensure that the works and sharing that occur as part of this project will follow the appropriate cultural protocols as appropriate to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Communities and relevant protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property.
As an artist I have known of the company’s ground-breaking intercultural work with both Rhoda Roberts and Stephen Page and have confidence in the company’s philosophy and adherence regarding cultural protocols.”
Olivia Ansell
Festival Director
“I have been aware of the works of Box of Birds / Stalker for over the last two decades, and I can attest to the professional rigor, research, and to the contributions that the Stalker team have made to theatre as an artform in Australia. Their works have frequently been shown on the national and international stage to much acclaim. Their plans for their future works are savvy to the current theatre era we are in ; a rapidly evolving “experience led” and “audience as participant” genre.
The virtual and augmented platforms with which Box of Birds are developing are both innovative and forward thinking, by allowing for engagement of audiences and artists to create digitally interactive and physical works in real time.
Stalker has always been at the cutting edge of what is next: from their innovations in physical theatre, large scale sets (both real and virtual), from their inhabitation of the streets and site- specific venues to their work in a wide variety of cultural contexts, I have always been intrigued by their vision for the future of theatre.
I would like to draw your attention to their new work Small Blue Thing that Sydney Festival is interested in presenting . Small Blue Thing seeks to engage audiences in a new type of storytelling, one that is immersive, participatory, in 360 and digitally sophisticated.”
Christine Glasson
Senior Producer at PHIVE
“Stalker/Box of Birds recently presented their work “Creature”, at PHIVE. This immersive interactive projection and storytelling experience captivated over 9,000 attendees over a two-week period. Creature’s focus on the flora and fauna of the Parramatta region, its respect for First Nations peoples and its ability to have thousands of children involved in physical play was exemplary.“
Virginia Hyam
Head of Programming
HOTA
“I am well versed in the extraordinary achievements of Stalker / Box of Birds work, watching them over the years, craft their own signature style of merging innovative technology and performance staging across indoor and outdoor spaces, nationally and internationally .
With their fusion of physicality, technology, and visual spectacle the Box of Birds team are merging exciting approaches to embodiment with cutting edge developments of digital forms which align to our programming aspirations.
Our audiences have loved the work that they have seen from this team of talented artists, and I look forward to presenting them again.”
Antonia Seymor
Executive Director
Arts on Tour
“As Executive Director of Arts on Tour I have had the pleasure of working with on a number of projects, from the ideation stage of projects such as Layer to the delivery of a national tour in 2018 of Stalker/Box of Birds’ exquisite show Creature: Dot and the Kangaroo.
Over this time, I have become acquainted with their practice and their extraordinary body of work. What is abundantly clear is the Stalker/Box of Birds team’s drive and passion for combining artistry and technology – and the level of sophistication of the resultant work.
On this score, I can absolutely attest to the excellence, passion and professionalism that the Stalker team can deliver. Stalker/Box of Birds is one of the few Australian companies which can attest to such track record in terms of longevity, diversity, and innovation in the Arts industry.
Box of Birds’ work integrating physical theatre with 3D technology is truly a game changer– as is evident by their pioneering partnership with UTS and their funding success with Epic Games.”
Mark Yeoman
Artistic Director
Noorderzon Festival, Netherlands
"Every few years, Box of Birds /Stalker are back on our festival with 'something new'. They have acquired greater longevity than any other group that I can think of, and many in our festival audience will remember them from years before. It's quite some achievement for a company based in Sydney, to carve out a long-term memory reflex in festival audiences such as ours, all over Europe as well as in Latin America, and increasingly now in Asia.
Stalker's latest technical infusions of photogrammetry, international cyber-broadcast, post-VR 3-Dimensional volumetric capture, all combined within their own take on dance theatre, is groundbreaking. Their hi tech/broad access approach resonates loudly for me within a complex modern world which is often needing work exactly like this.”
Audience Member
Creature Installation
“My family and I went to Creature in Pakenham. It was simply incredible. My son is autistic with severe sensory issues, and he absolutely loved it. He told me it’s the best day of his life. Thank you for creating an inclusive performance. It made him so calm he actually lay on the floor. Thank you for giving him such a wonderful day.”